Once Upon an Enterprise
by MirrorFlower and DarkWind
Summary: Jim is once more trapped with Kodos but someone is here to rescue him. Will he finally be free of this last darkness of his life or will he finally die at Kodos' hands. Sequel to Once Upon a Time, Happily Ever After, and After Happily Ever After


**T'Slash** : Well this story is a long time in the making. My dear friend was unhappy about how I ended the last one, After Happily Ever After and has been…threatening me so that I would write a sequel. I am sorry it took me so long to write, been busy with life. Hopefully I will write/finish other stories soon. For now I hope you enjoy this one. History Fairy, I hope this lives up to the standards of what you want. Make sure to read Once Upon a Time, Happily Ever After, and After Happily Ever After before reading this story or it won't make much sense.

D **isclaimer:** I do not own Star Trek…History Fairy would not let me and I don't think anyone else would either.

 **Once Upon an Enterprise**

Jim sat in his cell. Nothing could motivate him any longer. Kodos had finally done it. He had killed Jim. Killed Jim on a small planet where no one would ever hear about him. He was a no one. He was broken…shattered beyond hope.

Hope.

What a funny word. It was the word that could bring civilities and even dreams to life. Jim no longer dreamed. He didn't have anything left. Hope was for the people who still had dreams. Not people…pets, that were going to die…alone. Just like he always thought.

Like he had always known.

McCoy. Sulu and Chekov. Scotty and Uhura. Everyone on the Enterprise and…Spock. They were gone. The proof was right in front of him.

That broken piece of his ship, his home…his heart.

Ever since that day Jim had never let go of that piece of his heart. Nor had he let Kodos take Lenore or Spock's skull from him. They were all he had left…all he had left to remind himself that he was more than this. More than a possession. More than a broken man…a broken toy.

"James, I see you are up today," Kodos said, smiling as he stepped into the cage. The door was never locked any longer. Always left open but it was a testament on how broken James T. Kirk was that he never made a run for it. He was always there, sitting in his corner, hugging the only things left that connected him to the past. "Are you going to talk today?"

Jim sat there, cradling the skeleton of the girl as well as the skull of his love. Never letting them go nor looking up at Kodos. His words meant nothing to Jim. Not any longer. Not since he had died all those months, or was it years, ago.

"James, James, James. Is that any way to act to a man who is taking care of you. I could let you die at any time I want but yet I keep you alive. I keep you here," Kodos said, smiling down at Jim. He knew that Jim wished to die physically. He was already gone mentally and had been ever since he killed Lenore, his worthless daughter. "I could release you at any time but you don't show me the respect that I want. That I deserve. I have made a paradise out here on this planet away from Starfleet. That should make you happy. I know your Vulcan, what was his name…Spock right. I think he would have seen the logic in all of this."

Jim said nothing, just remaining in his corner. Not even the mention of his lovers name could make him react to Kodos. His heart was long dead…there was nothing that could make him react. That spirit that he had once been praised for was dead. Buried with his crew. All he wished for was to join them again in the afterlife but he knew that would never happy. Kodos would make sure he lived a long life. A life he no longer cared for.

"Oh James, I have broken you. You once claimed that it was impossible. That nothing could ever break you but I have done it," Kodos said, leaning down to cup Jim's check, looking into his blank eyes. Eyes that had at one time captured him with the fierce fire in them. A fire that never seemed to die but now he had done it. He had killed the fire. Broken the spirit of the great Captain. Starfleets Golden Boy. "You know, your friend, Admiral Christopher Pike is still alive. I have heard over the subwave radio that he thinks you are still out there. Never gives up does that man."

Something flickered in Jim's eyes for a second before it was extinguished. He couldn't afford to hope…he couldn't. he would not let hope grave a handhold in his soul. He knew how this would end. Kodos would send someone out to kill Pike. The last one alive that cared about Jim. Jim could not allow the man to go after Pike. He was already broken but that would obliterate him completely.

Kodos stayed there for a few more minutes, taunting Jim, trying to get a reaction out of Jim. Nothing, only that small hint of emotion at the first mention of Pike but Kodos knew they could not go after him. If they did Starfleet would come and destroy him. He may have gotten away with killing the Enterprise and her crew but he could never get away with killing Admiral Pike.

"I almost miss the spitfire you had Jim but seeing you broken is…satisfying," Kodos said, running his hand thought Jim's long locks before taking off and leaving Jim alone with this thoughts again. And the bodies.

Jim sat there staring into the darkness. There was nothing else to do. No hope to keep him alive. No young girl with a bright smile that would lighten up his dark days. That had kept him alive, kept the Enterprise's stories alive for the last decade. There was nothing to look forward to but death. And even that would not come until Kodos decided on it.

Even the sky was dark, the stars having twinkled out of existence the same time as the young girl in his arms life had. Taking her hopes and dreams with them.

"James," an ancient voice rang out though the dungeon. Jim didn't move, he was use to the illusions of people long dead. This was nothing that Kodos had not done to him already. With the dream of being free.

"James T. Kirk," the voice echoed again.

Still Jim did not react. He was numb to it all. Frozen. Nothing Kodos could do would affect him again. Nothing.

"James T. Kirk. Captain of the Enterprise. I have found you," the voice spoke up again, echoing words said once, long ago on a frozen wasteland. In a cave right after he had been saved with fire.

Jim blinked, shaking his head, his first reaction to the voice that kept calling out to him.

"Shut…up," Jim whispered, not wanting the cameras to pick up on his voice. Not wanting Kodos to know he was and could still react to images like this.

"Jim. I was and always will be your friend," the old voice said kindly as an elder Vulcan kneeled down in front of his old friend. In front of the mirrored image of his T'hy'la. "I am here for you, Jim. Wake up."

"Selek," Jim whispered, looking up into the elder Vulcan's eyes, the same eyes as his lovers whose head he cradled in his lap along with the body. "Get out of here…get our and save yourself."

"Jim…I am already dead," the elder Spock, known as Selek said looking at his old friend. The one that had been broken and trapped here. Trapped with a mad man. "I promise you, Kodos cannot do anything to harm me. You know this."

"Am…am I finally dead," Jim asked, his blue eyes lightening up before them dimed as Selek shook his head in the negative.

"You are not dead, Jim. You are trapped," Selek said, trying to get Jim to pay attention to him. To learn what he is saying.

"I know that! I have been trapped here since, I don't know when," Jim yelled out as tears fell from his eyes, as he looked down on the only items he owned. "I thought I was free but it was all a lie. Kodos will never release me!"

"You are trapped Jim, but this is not your trap," Selek said, gesturing to the dungeons and even to the world outside.

"What are you talking about," Jim said, wishing this hallucination would be gone again so he could go back to being numb and waiting for death to take him.

"You are trapped in your mind. Your friends, your family, are working tirelessly to save you but they cannot reach you," Selek said, looking up at the ceiling, listening to a conversation that Jim could not hear. "You are trapped here away from them. One last…present from Kodos."

"These are my presents," Jim said, gesturing to the skull, skeleton and piece of his ship. "There is nothing left. They are dead…and you are just a hallucination."

"I am not. I heard your cry of pain and came to you, Jim. Just as I always have," Selek said, taking Jim's hand in his own, hoping to give him strength to get through this trial. "My time is up, I have been reunited with my own crew but you have not been. You are trapped here and I cannot see a James T. Kirk die before his time. I have experienced that emotion once already. I do not wish to feel it a second time."

"I am alone…and I know I will die alone," Jim said, tears welling up in his eyes but he refused to let them fall.

"You are not alone. Even now my counterpart is calling for you. Listen, Jim. Do not become trapped here, at the mercy of Kodos," Selek pleaded, hoping that by being here. By overcoming death he could help his friend.

"There is nothing to hear. Kodos has won," Jim said, sinking further into his corner, pulling the three skeletons closer to his body.

"James T. Kirk. Captain of the Enterprise. The one who never believed in the No-Win Scenario. The one who got my counterpart and his crew to follow him where angels feared to tread. You are better than this," Selek said, squeezing his shoulders tighter. "Listen. They are calling you home. You must listen."

"Go, Selek. Save yourself…Kodos will be back soon. He will kill you," Jim said, slipping back inside of his mind. Unwilling to believe his old friend. "The Jim you knew is dead. He died long ago."

"That spirt can never be dead. James T. Kirk can be broken but his family will put him back together. The Jim I know, the Jim I saw in your mind on Delta Vega, can never be broken. He fights, and that is what you must do now, Jim. Fight for your life. Fight for your crew. Fight for them, the ones you hold in your lap," Selek said, gesturing to what was in Jim's arms, what he was unwilling to let go. "Listen."

"Damn it Jim!"

"T'hy'la!"

"Keptin!"

"Jim!"

"Jim wake up! Please!"

The voice rang around Jim's head, forcing him to look up, the bars disappearing on the cage. Selek smiled as he watched the bars disappear as well as the three skeletons in Jim's arms.

"Selek," Jim asked, looking over at his friend, his heart in his throat.

"They are waiting for you, Jim. Listen to them and let their voices bring you home," Selek said, gesturing to a tunnel. "Run to them and heal."

"You can never escape me, James," Kodos' voice spoke up. Jim looked up and looked at Kodos as he stood on top of the stairs, looking down on him. "You are my prisoner and will be until I decide to let you die."

Jim was frozen looking up at his tormenter. Was this all another trick? Was Selek just a hallucination? The voices?

"Jim, run. Follow the voices. Leave this to me," Selek said, stepping forward to face Kodos.

"Selek…how do I know what is true?" Jim asked, looking over at the old Vulcan.

"Follow your instincts. They have never lied to you," Selek said, turning and smiling slightly as another form started to form besides him, gearing for the fight. "Now, run. We will hold him back."

"Thank you, Selek…and other me," Jim said, smiling at his own counterpart before he ran to the tunnel. Leaving the dead to fight his mind, if Selek was to be believed.

It was dark all around him. He didn't know what way to run but he followed the voices and his instinct just as Selek had said. This was his mine and he had been trapped in it for far too long.

He kept running up, faster and faster. He didn't know if they could hold Kodos off but Jim knew one thing. If Kodos caught up to him once again…he knew that he would never escape. He would be back in his cage, trapped forever until he died. Until Kodos let him die.

Up and up Jim ran unaware of how long and how far he ran, it seemed endless but none the less he ran as fast as he could. Selek had overcome death to help him. To free him with his Jim. He would not let their faith be broken in him. So Jim kept running until he came to the top, nowhere left to run.

"Jim…your guard dogs have failed. Are you going to return willingly or do I have to force you," Kodos said, stepping out of the darkness just steps away from Jim. "I have taken everything away from you…I can take it all away again. Remember last time."

Jim froze as he remembered the trick. What he had been forced to watch…to hope. Jim almost collapsed but…he remembered Selek. He would not have come here for anything.

"No. I will not let you win this time, Kodos. Never again," Jim stated, looking his tormenter in the eyes one last time before he jumped over the edge of the platform, letting the darkness take him.

Kodos stared down at Jim's disappearing form cursing.

"Doctor McCoy," Spock said, looking over at McCoy who stood beside Jim's bedside, Lenore laying on a bed next to it. She had refused to leave Jim behind, refused the crews offers of somewhere to sleep. Spock and McCoy had decided to leave her here, where she would feel safe. "How is the Captain?"

"Jim, Spock. Shesh, you would think you could call him by his name," McCoy said, looking up towards heaven wondering what he did in a past life to be stuck with this green blooded hobgoblin.

"How is Jim," Spock asked, raising a single eyebrow looking over at the doctor.

"I don't know, Spock. The surgery was a success but I don't know what Kodos did. He may still be inside of Jim's head," McCoy said, looking over at his friend. "I know you want to do a mindmeld but…I don't think that he could handle that Spock. It may be the thing that will push him over the edge."

"He will wake up…he will," Lenore spoke up, never moving from her spot but her eyes now open.

"How do you know," McCoy asked, looking over at the young girl.

"He is James T. Kirk. He is the rebel boy and he now has his grumpy man, logical man, fencing piolet, wiz kid, crazy genius, and the beautiful woman. They are back…as did his ship. He will wake up," Lenore said, remembering all of the stories Jim had told her, the ones that made her cry knowing now that they were real. That they were the truth.

"Broken rebel boy," came a soft whisper from the bed.

Spock and McCoy ran over to the bed, watching as Jim opened his eyes, looking up at the bright light above his head.

"Jim…are you okay?" McCoy asked, looking down at his best friend. The one they had almost lost again right after getting him back, again.

"As long as this isn't another dream….I think I will be Bones," Jim said, looking over at Lenore and Spock. "You are both alive…you are all alive."

"We are alive, Jim. It was you who almost died," Spock said, moving to sit beside his T'hy'la.

"Selek spoke the truth," Jim said, looking over at Spock as Lenore threw herself into his arms, ignoring McCoy completely. Jim just smiled, holding the little girl he had thought dead closer, delighting in the feel of her warm body in his arms.

"Selek is dead, Jim. He has been since before…all this," McCoy said, looking over at his best friend, wondering if the device they found inside of his head had destroyed his mind.

"I know…he came to me. Him and his Jim and they saved me. They saved me and told me to come back. That you all were calling for me," Jim said, looking up at McCoy.

The door the sickbay opened up suddenly as Scotty, Sulu, Chekov and Uhura ran in, having been watching the security cameras and knowing that Jim was awake.

"Never, ever, worry us like that again!" Uhura yelled out as she threw herself down on Jim's bed, sitting right next to him.

"I will try," Jim said, looking over at his command crew. The crew who had never left him behind. The ones who wanted him safe and had worked for almost ten years to save him. "Thank you guys."

"Anyzing fer you, Keptin," Chekov said, tears in his eyes as he looked down at the man he had always looked up too.

"We will always come for you," Sulu said, keeping Chekov in his sight and in his arms. Not willing to let him go anytime soon.

"Aye, sir. We never leave a man behind," Scotty said, holing up his special brew. "I know what you need though, Doctors orders."

"Doctors order my foot…but this time I will allow it. It's a time to celebrate," McCoy said, looking over at the crew. Happy they were all here.

Jim smiled as Spock moved to sit beside him. Spock knew that Lenore had needed Jim but he could no longer ignore the pull in him towards his T'hy'la. They all needed to be with Jim at this moment and he would not ignore that fact. The fact that Selek had helped save Jim…he could only be thankful for. Even after death Selek and his Jim were protecting them.

"Vat next, Keptin," Chekov asked, looking over at the man who was once broke but now…finally he was starting to heal.

"I think I know this, Lieutenant," Pike said from his place in the doorway, happy that the once lost man he had found in Iowa so many year ago was now home with his family. A family he needed and that needed him.

"Do you want to say it then, Pike," Jim asked, looking over for the man that was like his father.

"No, I leave that to you son," Pike said, smiling as the crew looked at their Captain.

"Course setting, Keptin," Chekov asked again as Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, McCoy, Spock and Lenore looked at Jim.

"Second star to the right and straight on until we are far from this fucking planet," Jim said, smiling at his crew. Lenore nodded in agreement, knowing they needed to get away from here and the memories.

"Aye, aye, Capn," Scotty said smiling.

"Jim," Spock said, looking down at his love.

"Yes, Spock?" Jim asked, holding Lenore to his side.

"I am…pleased that my counterpart was able to save you," Spock said, knowing it was true.

"Even if that is hard to believe," McCoy said, looking upward. "Damn, hobgoblins."

"What will happen now Ja-Jim?" Lenore asked, looking up at the man who had always been there for her.

"Now…we go on and continue the story. It's not over yet and there is still so much of the universe to see still. You will be with us, Lenore. I won't leave you behind," Jim said, looking towards his crew and at Spock who was giving him as Vulcan kiss as well as agreeing with Jim. They would all be together from now on until death came for them all.

Yes, Lenore thought. This story was not over. The story was just getting started. The story that Jim had started for her so many years ago was now, finally, being continued.

Forever if the crew of the USS Enterprise had anything to say about it. They would accept nothing less.

Neither would Selek and his Jim as well as their own crew.

That was the way it should be.

 **The End**

 **T'Slash:** Well it took me a while to figure out what to do with this. How to continue this…I hope everyone likes this ending! And History Fairy, I hope this helps you get though finals! About two years in the making…I hope everyone likes it and please remember to leave a review.


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